Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Using PDAs for Dictation?

Posted by Cliff on from the killer-application-that-hasn't-happened-yet dept.

SunPin asks: "I'm a writer that is 99% dependent, due to fine-motor disabilities, on voice dictation. I've been a dictation user since 1990. My preference is 'discrete' speech because of very low resource consumption and its effectively infinite flexibility. Over the years, my computer use has de-evolved to programming, FTP, email (Mozilla), word processing (OpenOffice) and Ricochet. Drop the game and there's nothing that I shouldn't be allowed to do on the go. The problem is that I can't. Back in 1990, the requirements for IBM VoiceType were: DOS, 8MB RAM, 10MB of drive space with one of those new-fangled scorching 386-16MHz processors... not exactly demanding by today's standards and, unless I'm outright wrong, not demanding by today's PDA standards. Why hasn't it occurred yet?"

"In the disability offices of the hundreds of universities across the US, such software would be a major money saver because not all students need a high-powered laptop. While natural speech is great from a marketing perspective, it is simply impractical for general use and cannot adapt to mildly noisy environments. IBM, L & H and Microsoft have all given me the run-around. IBM refused to entertain the possibility. L & H is on life support, in a deep coma. Only Microsoft had a remotely positive response saying that they were testing natural recognition in Mandarin Chinese in their Beijing research office. Does anyone believe in keeping it simple, anymore?"

3 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well... by danormsby · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    > First off, buying a dictaphone is still much cheaper than a PDA with software.

    Dictaphone? I use my finger.

    --
    Omnis amans amens
  2. Hooray! Former publisher of "The Onion" returns... by DeHar · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    T. Herman Zweibel has returned to us and is posting to Slashdot!

    Sir: Last we heard you were rocketing into deep space. What happened? Has your loyal servant Standish discovered the workings of the giant rocket-ship?

    We rejoice at having your wisdom returned to us.

  3. Re:i hope that voice recognition never really flie by greechneb · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I didn't mean for him, I just meant I hope it doesn't take off for general business use. I don't wan't people talking like crazy all the time trying to get their computer to understand. I'm glad for anything that helps people with disabilities do their jobs. One of those being my father, who only has one arm. I just don't want to have to listen to everyone speak slowly so their computer will recognize their voice.